1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to peripherally-selective inhibitors of dopamine-β-hydroxylase and a method of their preparation.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, interest in the development of inhibitors of dopamine-β-hydroxylase (DβH) has centred on the hypothesis that inhibition of this enzyme may provide significant clinical improvements in patients suffering from cardiovascular disorders such as hypertension or chronic heart failure. The rationale for the use of DβH inhibitors is based on their capacity to inhibit the biosynthesis of noradrenaline, which is achieved via enzymatic hydroxylation of dopamine. Activation of neurohumoral systems, chiefly the sympathetic nervous system, is the principal clinical manifestation of congestive heart failure (Parmley, W. W., Clinical Cardiology, 18: 440–445, 1995). Congestive heart failure patients have elevated concentrations of plasma noradrenaline (Levine, T. B. et al., Am. J. Cardiol., 49:1659–1666, 1982), increased central sympathetic outflow (Leimbach, W. N. et al., Circulation, 73: 913–919, 1986) and augmented cardiorenal noradrenaline spillover (Hasking, G. J. et al., Circulation, 73:615–621, 1966). Prolonged and excessive exposure of myocardium to noradrenaline may lead to down-regulation of cardiac β1-adrenoceptors, remodelling of the left ventricle, arrhytmias and necrosis, all of which can diminish the functional integrity of the heart. Congestive heart failure patients who have high plasma concentrations of noradrenaline also have the most unfavourable long-term prognosis (Cohn, J. N. et al., N. Engl. J. Med., 311:819–823, 1984). Of greater significance is the observation that plasma noradrenaline concentrations are already elevated in asymptomatic patients with no overt heart failure and can predict ensuing mortality and morbidity (Benedict, C. R. et al., Circulation, 94:690–697, 1996). This implies that the activated sympathetic drive is not merely a clinical marker of congestive heart failure, but may contribute to progressive worsening of the disease.
Inhibition of sympathetic nerve function with adrenoceptor antagonists appeared a promising approach, however a significant proportion of patients do not tolerate the immediate haemodynamic deterioration that accompanies β-blocker treatment (Pfeffer, M. A. et al., N. Engl. J. Med., 334:1396–7, 1996). An alternative strategy for directly modulating sympathetic nerve function is to reduce the biosynthesis of noradrenaline via inhibition of DβH, the enzyme responsible for conversion of dopamine to noradrenaline in sympathetic nerves. This approach has several merits including gradual modulation as opposed to abrupt inhibition of the sympathetic system, and causing increased release of dopamine, which can improve renal function such as renal vasodilation, diuresis and natriuresis. Therefore inhibitors of DβH may provide significant advantages over conventional β-blockers.
Several inhibitors of DβH have been thus far reported in the literature. Early first and second generation examples such as disulfiram (Goldstein, M. et al., Life Sci., 3:763, 1964) and diethyldithiocarbamate (Lippmann, W. et al., Biochem. Pharmacol., 18: 2507, 1969) or fusaric acid (Hidaka, H. Nature, 231, 1971) and aromatic or alkyl thioureas (Johnson, G. A. et al, J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., 171: 80, 1970) were found to be of low potency, exhibited poor selectivity for DβH and caused toxic side effects. The third generation of DβH inhibitors however, were found to have much greater potency, such as for example, nepicastat (RS-25560-197, IC50 9 nM) (Stanley, W. C., et al., Br. J Pharmacol., 121: 1803–1809, 1997), which was developed to early clinical trials. Although devoid of some of the problems associated with first and second generation DβH inhibitors, a very important discovery was that nepicastat was found to cross the blood brain barrier (BBB), thereby able to cause central as well as peripheral effects, a situation which could lead to undesired and potentially serious CNS side-effects of the drug. Therefore there yet remains an unfulfilled clinical requirement for a potent, non-toxic and peripherally selective inhibitor of DβH, which could be used for treatment of certain cardiovascular disorders. A DβH inhibitor with similar or even greater potency than nepicastat, but devoid of CNS effects (inability to cross the BBB) would provide a significant improvement over all DβH inhibitor compounds thus far described in the prior art.